I knew the Pantheon was the one place in Rome I needed to see, because of The Moon. A photograph which hung in the hallway of the family home throughout my childhood. For many years I had believed this photograph to be depicting the moon, and was very impressed at my father's ability to capture the moon up so close, a looming, perfect sphere suspended in the inky matte darkness.

I don't remember when I became aware that the photograph was not of the moon, but I had grown; grown tall enough to see the detail in the image: the visible rectangles of the coffered dome. Clearly this was no moon. How I managed to learn this was in fact a building, a large dome, and my moon was in fact a 9m diameter skylight, I don't recall.

My dad was in Italy in 1981 - he was in the crowd when the Pope was shot. In June, I went to the Pantheon to attempt to recreate his original image from memory. I had last seen the photo over a year ago, and had not studied it closely for more than five. I am not even certain I got the angle right.

July 24, 2014

Tourist boats on the Seine, scanned and distorted. Attempts to create a surrealistic sensation reminiscent of the boat trip in the 1971 psychedelic masterpiece that was 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'.
The poor quality of the images give the tourists trigger-happily photographing the banks of the river, cameras raised high, the impression of hands help up in terror or exhilaration. Rollercoaster of the Seine.

I stumbled across this image in a typical Swedish interiors book. Full of 'miss-matched' furniture, stripped back wooden floors, classic scandinavian design, string shelves, novelty slogan posters and tea-towels. The book was titled 'Details', focusing on small well curated corners of apartments, and various 'quirky' items - such as a two-page spread devoted to toilet paper holders - intended to spruce up your home. Styling tip! It's all in the details apparently. My eyes latched on to this photo by pure chance - initially drawn to the beautiful chair-as-bedside table and rough white-washed walls, but on closer inspection was amazed to recognise the artfully stacked pile of books on the windowsill, realising them to be a collection of Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö's crime novels, written in the 60's and 70's, featuring the protagonist Martin Beck. I have my own collection of these at home (up on my string shelf in fact), trophies from extensive and dedicated rummaging through second hand stores. These were the first books I read in Swedish. I have a near compulsion to buy any copy I stumble across, including having managed to collect 5 copies of Roseanna, (two in English, 3 in Swedish) the first book in the series. I will make the claim that Roseanna is up there among the greatest novels in not just Swedish crime, but within the crime genre in general.

Sometimes it's not just about having the details, but noticing them as well.

Sundries as
an idea came to me from some pieces of advice my father gave me, via facebook
chat, after I asked him if it were better to take the path of job as job, or
career as lifestyle? Work to pay the bills and devote your free time to your
interests, or make your interests into your career?

The initial
reply

“Follow
your dreams and be true to yourself.”

- -
That’s
not actually that helpful

“Oh.”

But he
expanded on this cliché, and I realised that I should listen to my father more
often.

“yeah it is a hard question. You dont want to feel that you are
treading water or sinking in to hole that you cannot climb out of. Exploit all
of the things you do to find a direction or added value, like writing about
travel for instance - change the creative direction to find a new edge.”

And

“Even writing about Sweden and publishing in NZ, or the otherway around,
just sharing ideas with others and giving with sincerity not just for
commercial gain.”

The two main points which struck me were to 'exploit all things you do to
find a direction or added value – change the creative direction to find a new
edge; sharing ideas with others and giving with sincerity not just for
commercial gain.

One idea for a physical manifestation of all of my different thoughts
has been to create ‘environments’ for want of a better word – spaces with
furniture, artworks and patterns I have created residing harmoniously together.
Sundries is a two-dimensional manifestation of the same concept – juxtaposing
texts, photographs and sketches into cohesive thought patterns over a series of
pages.

All of my areas of interest collide at one point – myself – as the
generator of these ideas. I strive to create connections and patterns between
these separate things. Exploit all of the
things you do to find direction. Sundries offers a gateway into my thought
process and enables a reader to create their own links through the words and
images included.

A series of essays or short texts primarily on my life in Sweden and
thoughts around art. Texts I have written to accompany shows, and pieces from
The Tally Ho. Failed proposals.

July 1, 2014

The Southern Pole of Inaccessibility. The point on Antarctica furthest from any coastline. The coldest year-round temperature of -58.2 degrees celcius. In December of 1958 it was a Russian research station, conducting meterological observations.
Nearly 50 years on, in 2007, the research station is almost completely covered in snow. All that remains visible is a bust of Lenin (apparently Russians erected marble busts of Lenin even in the most far flungs places on this earth, places they were only inhabiting for a few weeks). With only a couple of aerials for company, he proudly surveys his territory, a monument of nothing, which nature will slowly swallow up.